Margaret Merry

Margaret Merry

About

I am an artist and writer/illustrator of children's books living on an olive farm with my husband, dogs and cats in the mountains of Southern Spain. I love the mountain scenery, flora and fauna.
My web site has links to my blogs.

The First Book of the Gastar Series: "Act of Redemption"

The First Book of the Gastar Series: "Act of Redemption"

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Description

The once-great city of Gastar stands in ruins following centuries of war by undead monsters driven by an evil temple.  Victory cost the people of the knowledge to defeat another enemy, Zermon, ruler of hell, who seeks to extend his realm by annihilation of the few people left.  With the help of a sympathetic ancient dragon, volunteer fighters from the past war, and the arrival of a teen assassin named Shevata who is known to Zermon, they combine efforts for the existence of the people of Gastar.

Story Behind The Book

When Izzy, my 4 year old grandaughter, was staying with us on holiday we walked together to a small,disused quarry at the top of my land in the corner of which is an old,abandoned digger. Upon seeing it, Izzy commented "Poor digger! It looks so lonely".

Reviews

<span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1608601447?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=reatokno-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1608601447" style="color:#600001;text-decoration:underline;">The Lonely Digger</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=reatokno-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=1608601447" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> is a story of Lola, who was a digger in a quarry. She did her job well and faithfully but eventually, as the years went by, she got old. Eventually she was removed from the main work area and placed in an out-of-the-way spot on quarry land and was replaced by a new, shinier digger. Lola, alone and neglected, grew very lonely and felt very much alone. She was quite sad, enjoying the company of the occasional animal visitor. She longed to be useful again. She wanted to be remembered, loved and cared for. Eventually a young boy stumbled upon her and is perfectly delighted with the idea of playing with her and fixing her up again. His father agrees to get the supplies necessary to clean her up. In the end, she is not returned to quarry work but instead serves as a playground of sorts for the local village children.</span><div><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:small;line-height:normal;"></span></span><p style="margin-top:1.2em;margin-bottom:1.2em;padding-top:0px;padding-bottom:0px;font-size:small;">Neither of these storybooks are simple picture books. Each of the above stories are 68 pages long. Although there are pictures on each page, the large majority of the page is covered in writing. I would say that these books are best enjoyed by ages 6 to 12. (Amazon says 9 to 12 but I doubt you'd need to be THAT old.) Being that the stories are about construction trucks and animals, they are sure to capture the imagination of children quite easily. My son is interested in the pictures but at 2 1/2 he's not quite patient enough to sit through the whole story. I would give him another year or so and try again because they really are quite clever and charming. Also, Margaret Merry's illustrations are simply breathtaking. She is a true artist and I really love looking at her work. Again, take a look at her website to get a feel for what you can expect from these two storybooks.</p><p style="margin-top:1.2em;margin-bottom:1.2em;padding-top:0px;padding-bottom:0px;font-size:small;">These are wonderful stories that have a classic feel to them. I suspect you will enjoy them if you can get your hands on a copy! Read and enjoy!</p></div>